Statement of Faith

Article I
The name of this church shall be Rome Baptist Temple of Rome, Georgia.
Article II
The purpose of this body of believers shall be to carry out the commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ who has made the church to be His earthly body. We shall do this by:
1. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together: (Hebrews 10:25)
2. Contending for the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints. (Jude 3)
3. Observing His ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. (Matthew 28:18-20) (I Corinthians 11:26)
4. Edifying His people in all spiritual grace. (Ephesians 4:11; 16)
5. Witnessing for Him in our community and to the fullest extent throughout the whole world. (Matthew 28:18-20)
6. Spreading the Gospel through all available means, such as missions, education, literature, radio, television, etc.
Article III
Section 1. The Scriptures. We believe in the Bible as the verbally (every word) and plenary (completely) inspired Word of God. We believe that all portions of the Scripture are equally inspired and contain no contradiction. That the Scriptures are to be the only rule of faith and practice for the believer in Jesus Christ and that the Cannon, the 66 books of the Bible, is complete, nothing shall be added to it nor taken from it. II Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 1:1, II Peter 1:20-21, and Revelation 22:18-19.
Section 2. God. There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience.
The eternal God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. (Genesis 1:1, John 1:1, John 14:16-17, I Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 1:8).
1. God the Father
a. God the Father reigns with providential care over His universe. His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all loving, and all wise. God is father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
2. God the Son
a. Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ he was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary.
b. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself the demands and necessities of human nature and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the one Mediator, partaking of the nature of God and of man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever-present Lord. (Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:36, John 1:1-4, John 10:30, John 14:6, I Timothy 2:5-6, Revelation 20:4-6, and I Thessalonians 4:13-18)
3. God the Holy Spirit
a. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables man to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the assurance of God to bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service. (John 3:3-5, John 16:7-15, Acts 1:8, I Corinthians 6:19, Ephesians 1:13-14; 5:18).

Section 3. Satan We believe that the devil (Satan) is a person. He was created perfect, but sinned and become the arch enemy of God and His creation. He is the chief adversary of God’s children, he speaks to weaken the testimony of Christians. He has at his command a great host of fallen angels (demons) to carry out his purpose. He is not omnipotent and can be overcome by the power of God. His doom is sealed in the Lake of Fire forever and ever. (Ezekiel 28:12-19, Isaiah 14:12-14, Revelation 12:10, 20:10).

Section 4. Creation We believe in the Genesis account of creation and that it is to be accepted literally and not allegorically or figuratively. That man was created directly in God’s own image after His own likeness. That man’s creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary change of species or development through intermediate periods of time from lower to high forms; that all animal and vegetable alike were made directly and God’s established law was that they should bring forth only “after their kind”. (Genesis 1:11, 1:1, 1:26-27, 2:21-23) (Exodus 20:11, Nehemiah 9:6, Jeremiah 10:12, John 1:3, Acts 4:24, 17:23-27, Romans 10:6, Colossians 1:15-17, Hebrews 11:3, Revelation 10:6).

Section 5. Eternal State
a. We believe in the bodily resurrection of all man, the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgement and everlasting punishment. (Matthew 25:46, John 11:25-26, Revelation 20:5,6,12,13)
b. We believe that the souls of the redeemed are at death, absent from the body and present with the Lord, where in conscious bliss they await the first resurrection, when the Lord will re-unite the spirit, soul and body to be glorified forever with the Lord. (Luke 23:45, II Corinthians 5:8, I Thessalonians 4:16-17, Philippians 1:23, Revelation 20:4-6).

Section 6 Man We believe that God created man in His own image and in a state of innocence but that through temptation he willfully transgressed and became dead in trespasses and sin whereby his posterity inherited a corrupt nature being born in sin and under condemnation, without defense of excuse. (Genesis 3:1-6, 24) (Ezekiel 18:19-20, Romans 1:18,20,28,32; 3:10-23; 5:12-19, Galatians 3:22, Ephesians 2:1-3)

Section 7 Salvation We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a representative and substitutionary sacrifice, that He arose from the dead in His glorified body, ascended into Heaven and as our great High Priest and Advocate He ever lives to make intercession for us and that all who believed on His name are justified on the ground of His shed blood and receive the gift of eternal life by the grace of God. (Isaiah 53:4-5, John 3:16, Galatians 2:9, Ephesians 2:8, Hebrews 2:18, 7:25)

Section 8 Regeneration We believe that regeneration is a divine instantaneous work of the Holy Spirit, whereby God imparts life to one dead in trespasses and sin. We believe that to be saved sinners must be regenerated, that is born again. That regeneration consists in giving a Holy disposition to the mind that it is effected in a manner above our comprehension by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith, and the newness of life. (John 3:3-8,11; II Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 5:16-23, Ephesians 5:9, I Peter 1:22-25)

Section 9 Sanctification We believe that sanctification is the divine progressive work of the Holy Spirit, whereby God, upon the ground of the finished work of Christ of the Cross, His present intercessory ministry, and His divine Word, sets the believer apart through him by means of a submissive will that which is well pleasing to Himself through Jesus Christ. This work culminates in the redemption of the body. (Romans 2:29, Philippians 2:12-13, I Thessalonians 4:3, I John 2:29, Romans 8:5)

Section 10 Stewardship God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him, Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth. (Numbers 18:21, Hebrews 7:1-10, Malachi 2:8-10, Matthew 23:23, Luke 6:38, II Corinthians 9:6-8)

Section 11 The Church We believe in the one true Church, the mystical body and Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ composed of believers indwelled by the Holy Spirit and will continue until the translation of the Church at the Rapture. We believe that the local church is an organization of professing believers instituted for fellowship, worship, and service. In matters of administration of policy, it is self-governing. (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:41-52, 14:23, 20:17-36, II Corinthians 8:23-24, I Corinthians 5:11-13, 6:1-3, 11:2, 12:4, 8-11, 16;1-2, Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:11-16, 5:23-27, Colossians 1:18, I Timothy 3:1-13, I Peter 5:1-11, Jude 3:4)
Section 12 Ordinances We believe that the two ordinances of the church are believers baptism by immersion in water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and the Lord’s Supper, whereby, believers show forth the Lord’s death until He comes. Observance of the Lord’s Supper is to be preceded by solemn self-examination. (Matthew 28:19, John 3:22-23, Acts 2:41-42, Acts 3:36-39, Romans 6:4, I Corinthians 11:17-34)

Section 13 The Second Coming of Christ We believe in the glorious hope of the pre-tribulation, pre-millennial, imminent and bodily return of Christ. This constitutes the blessed hope set before us for which we should be constantly looking. (Job 19:25-27, Psalm 17:15, Isaiah 11:1-12, Daniel 12:1-4, Zechariah 4:1-11, Matthew 24:1-51, Mark 13:24-27, Luke 17:22-37, John 14:1-3, Luke 21:24-36, I Corinthians 1:7-8, I Thessalonians 4:13-18, Titus 2: 11-14, Hebrews 9:27-28, James 5:7-8, II Peter 3:1-14, I John 3:2-3, Jude 14, Revelation 1:7, 19:11-12, 22:6-7, 12,20)

Section 14 Separation We believe that in these days of apostasy the church should be separated from compromising situations and movements. We believe the church should remain separated from liberalism, modernism, neo-orthodoxy, and neo-evangelism, and that a love for the Lord Jesus Christ will result in obedience to His Word which demands this separation. (I John 2:3-5, John 14:15, Romans 16:17, II Corinthians 6:14-17, II Thessalonians 3:6, I Timothy 6:3-5, I John 3:18, 5:2-3, II John 9-11)